Electric socket



May 19, 1942- E. J. ATTERBURY '2,283,405

ELECTRIC SOCKET -File'd Jan. 17, 1940 Patented May 19, 1942 UNITED STATE-S PATENT GFFICE ELECTRIC SOCKET Earl -tterbury, Chicago, Ill. application January 17, 1949,* seria1 No. 314,197 1 claim. (ci. 173-362) This invention relates to electric sockets and it has for its object the provision of a new Vand improved form and arrangement of parts by which the wires are detachably connected in operative position on one member of a twopart socket and by which the current is led from said one socket member to the other socket member so as to be fed to the lamp orother suitable work part or to the insert plug of an extension 4cord or the like.

In one of the embodiments of the invention as shown, the downwardly concaved insulationlining member in the cap portion f the Shell or casing of the socket isprovided with two Contact members thereon, each iormed o f sheet ,metal bent to embrace both the lining member andthe end portion of one of the feed wires, said contact members beine mounted in spaced relation to each other so as to engageresilient contact arms carried by the body member of the device held in position by the body portion of the shell. In the other embodimentillustrated, the construction is more or less similar but the resilient con; tact arms are carried by the contact members mounted on 1:he insulation. Home member rather than bythe body member o fthesgclet. Ineach of the constructions, the vresilient arms carried by one member of the casing egteridlongitudinally oi the deviceinto operative nengagement I with the contact parts carried by theotherporf tion of the casing, the arrangement bleachin- Stenee beine Sueh that the two portions of the casing can be quickly and easily separated. so as to alord convenient access to the contact mem? bers for effecting the required connectionofthe wires thereto.

It is another object. ofthis invention .to improve devices of this type in, sundry details Vhereinafter pointed out. The preferred Vmeans by Whichthese objects have been attained are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which-.

Fig. 1 is a central vertical sectional .View through a socket embodying one .preferred Y-form of arrangement;

Figs. 2 and 3 are Ihorizontal sectional -views taken substantially at the line 2--2and the'line 3 3, respectively, of Fig. 1; Y

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional viewtaken on an enlarged scale at' the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a face VieWof the Ablank from which the contact arrangement as shown in Figs.`2 and lis formed;

Fig. 6 is a central vertical sectional Yview' through a modified form of socket comprising a pull-chain switch and embodying another preferred form of construction;

Figs. 7, and Bare horizontal sectional views taken substantially at the line 'l-'l and the line 8-8, respectively, cf Fig. 6;

ofa body plate 36. The two Contact members lare Fig. 9 isa vertical sectional view taken on an enlarged scale at the line 979 ci Fig. 7;

Fig. 1 0 is a perspective v1ew` of the Contact member shown io Fis. 9; and

Fig. 11 is a face View of the blank from which the o orrtoot member Shown in Fie .1Q 1S 'formed' Referring n ow to Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, in which oo rrespoodipe parte ereieflieeted by the 'Seme reference characters,fl5 indicates the body por?,

tion of my improved Sooket formed" preferably of porcelain and having a metal sleeve I6 rigidly mounted thereon for 'the reception of an electric light .bulb or a screw-threaded plug forming a part of an extension wire or the like.` .'Ihe-b'ody insulationV member l is mounted in the body portion vl'lof'a two-part casing, with a sleeve I8 of fibre o r other insulation material interposed between the casing'and fthe insulation member |5. The insulation member lifini the arrangementfshown in Fig. 1 is provided with two con-V tact members I9 and v2U secured position in recesses at the sides of said body portion .I 5, one of said contact members being connected with the sleeve It and the other being connected with a central contact asis usual in electrical sockets. Ifhe Contact members I9 and ZDinthe arrange# ment shown are provided with .resilient contact arms 2| and 22, respectively, held in position by means'of screws`23. l

The upper end of vthe casing member l'l is closed normally by a cap 'member 24 which is provided at itsl central portion with a sleeve 25 of insu1ation material through which insulated lead Wires 26 and 21 are introduced into the Immediately below the cap member ad, there are two insulation members 28 and 29 each of dished formation corresponding substantially tothe lshape of the cap 24 so as to seat itself iirmly in position in the cap. 'At' opposite sides of the insulationr member 2 9, on its bottom or inner face, I have 4provided contact members V3b and 3l formed of sheet rnetalfbent intoshape so' as toembrace the insulation member 2,9 and to grip tightly the Wires 26 and`2l, as is best shown in Fig. 2. VEach of these contact'members comprises in the arrangementl shown an arc-shaped body portion 32 (see Fig. 5) having lugs 33Hand 34 formed integrally therewith on the o utside 'of the curvature and an arm 35 formed integrally therewith-fon the inside of the curve, the arm 43 5 being broadened at its free end into the form mounted upon the insulation member Zebrhev.- ing 4thelues V34 Ainserted through openings el at opposite sides of the insulation member, such lugs 34being bent upwardly and vinwardly about the contact members 30 and 3| in operative position, A

being insulated from the cap 24 by theinsulalation member. The wires 50 and 5| are inserted between the arms 6D and 6| of the contact members, after which a lug 63 formed on the side of the arm 58 is bent over about the arm 6| so as to hold the wire gripped tightly in position. At the outer end of the arm 6|, the metal strip from which the contact member is formed is bent downwardly to provide an arm 64, the lower end portion 65 of which is bent upwardly to provide tion member 28. The arrangement is very sim- I ple and is very easily manipulated for bringing n the wires into grippedrelation to the contact members, as is shown in Fig. 2. The position of the parts is such that when the cap 24 is attached in position upon the casing member I1 the resilient contact arms 2| and 22 are brought into pressure relationship with the body plates 36 of the contact members carried by the cap so as to provide effective electrical connection between the wires 26 and 21 and the contact members |9 and 20, respectively.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 6 to 1l, the construction is similar in many respects, the

outstanding diierence being that in Fig. 6 thelongitudinally extending contact arms are carried by the cap rather than by the body portion of the shell. In the arrangement of Figs. 6 to 11, a shell 39 is provided closed at its upper end by a removable cap 40. A body member 4| of porcelain or the like is provided in the casing member 39 being separated therefrom by an insulation sleeve 42, such body portion 4| being provided with a screw-threaded sleeve'43 for the reception of a lamp. The body portion 4| in the arrangement shown in Fig. 6 is provided with contact members 44 and 45 which are connected with the sleeve 43 and the central contact of the socket by means of a switching mechanism of any approved type forming in and of itself no part of the present invention. The switch in the arrangement shown comprises a rotatably mounted member 46 upon which an operating chain 41 is wound for operating the switch in a manner well understood in the art.

As is best shown in Fig. 6, the cap 401s pro-y vided with downwardly concaved insulation members 48 and 49 therein provided with registering openings therethrough at their central points for the insertion of wires 50 and 5| into the interior ,of the socket member through an insulation sleeve 52 of any approved type.

The means for connecting the wires 50 and with the contacts 44 and 45, respectively, comprises contacts 53 and 54 formed of sheet metal and bent into position to grip both the inside insulation member 49 and the wires 50 and 5|. As is clearly shown in Fig. 9, the insulation member 49 is provided with a central opening 55 and with a notch 56 in its peripheryat the point where the contact 54 is to be applied, two of such notches being provided for said contact members 53 and 54. For applying the contact member 54, it is doubled over upon itself at 51 to` provide arms 58 and 59 which embrace the insulation member 49 (see Fig. 9), the blank being then reversely doubled twice more to provide arms 68 andl, the end portion 62 being bent downwardly through the notch 5B and about the outer ends of the arms 58 and 60 for'holding the contact member in position upon the insua loop portion (see Fig. 9).

v Asis clearly shown in Fig. 6, the loop portions y are held normally in such position that when Vthe cap 40 and its connected parts are pushed down into operative relation to the body casing member 39 said loops are brought into wiping engagement with the contacts 44 and 45 carried by the body portion of the casing so as to form an effective releasable connection between the lead wires and-the contacts 44 and 45.

By the use of my improved construction, the user is enabled very quickly and easily to attach the lead wires in the desired circuit relation with respect to the socket parts. By separating the cap member from the body portion of the casing, access is alforded directly to the contacts carried by the cap portion, and it is an easy matter to bend the contact members into voperative relation for gripping the ends of the wires so as to hold them in effective contact relation. This can be effected readily without removing the light bulb or other work device from the sleeve I6, since it is not necessary to remove the body member |5 from the casing memberl |1 for obtaining access to the connecting means for the lead-in wires. It is desirable to have an ordinary acceptance plug .or light bulb in the socket beforek putting the cap 24 back on the body portion because this holds the socket and casing rmly together. In cases where desirable the proper positive and negative markings may be provided in the cap to indicate where to connect the positive and negative leads.

While the form and arrangement of parts as shown in the drawing and as above described are preferred, my invention is not to be limited to such construction except so far as the claims may be so limited, since it is evident that changes might well be made in the form and arrangement of parts withoutrv departing -from my invention.

I claim:

In a socket, the combination of a two-part casing, comprising a body portion and a cap member releasably connected with said body portion, a body member mounted in said body porton of the casing with two contact members mountedthereon and insulated from said casing, an insulation member in the cap member, two other contact members mounted on said insulation member and insulated from each other and :from the casing and each formed of sheet metal folded tightly about the Y insulation member, means for connecting lead wires to said secondnamed contact members, and resilient arms mounted on one of said setsof two contact members and extending longitudinally of the socket into position for operative wiping engagement with the other of said sets of two contact' members when the casing members are moved longitudinally into operativeV position with respect to each other independently of rotary movement.

EARL J. ATTERBURY. 

